


A Very Winchester Christmas

by allthebeautifulthings9828



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Castiel Cooks, Castiel in the Bunker, Christmas, Christmas Dinner, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Morning, Christmas Presents, Christmas Tree, Domestic Castiel, Domestic Castiel/Dean Winchester, Domestic Fluff, Fallen Castiel, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Human Castiel, Implied Castiel/Dean Winchester, M/M, POV Castiel, Team Free Will, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-05 08:32:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1091807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allthebeautifulthings9828/pseuds/allthebeautifulthings9828
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An impossibly hard year topped by Kevin's death has Sam and Dean falling into depression and bad habits brought on by grief. Castiel takes matters into his own hands and schemes to give them a real Christmas for once in their lives. Team Free Will is really a family and they remember how important they are to each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Very Winchester Christmas

Sam and Dean's lack of interest in Christmas confused Castiel, having done quite a bit of research on holiday customs. He wanted to do it right now that he was human. Dean took Kevin's death quite hard and dissolved into drinking again, while Sam built a wall of denial so high that it could have only meant he blamed himself.

Needless to say, it didn't appear that they were going to even acknowledge Christmas.

Castiel knew it would make them come back to life a little bit if they enjoyed themselves for a day. They'd drag their feet and roll their eyes at first - he knew it - but he also knew deep down, they'd stash away those memories as a glimmer of real family life. That, he understood, was the biggest goal. They might never have said thank you or acknowledged it afterward, but he wanted to do it for them anyway.

So Castiel found old cookbooks in the bunker storeroom - he knew quite a bit about finding interesting stuff in storerooms now - and he began studying holiday food the first week of December. Occasionally, he slipped in a practice run by making a side dish like sweet potatoes or rolls. Such foods seemed innocuous on their own and it never occurred to Dean or Sam that he was practicing for the main event. He merely smiled in his quiet manner and said he wanted to learn to cook now that he was a human man.

"Well, I could teach you, Cas," offered Dean at the table. He swallowed down a mouthful of whiskey between bites of mashed potatoes and gravy.

No. That wouldn't do at all. "I prefer to try and do this myself," Castiel stammered. "I got used to learning everything on my own after I was cast out. It's become a matter of pride." That might not have been the greatest response. He realized he just made Dean feel even more guilty for kicking him out while Gadreel possessed Sam.

Dean shrugged and nodded, dropping his eyes to the pork chop he'd cooked and cut the rest of it into bite-sized pieces.

A week before Christmas, Castiel realized he needed a tree. He hadn't really thought about it, being so focused on the Winchesters' love for food, but he didn't quite know how to acquire one. The nearest tree lot was all the way in town and he couldn't very well walk all the way back to the bunker carrying an evergreen tree on his back. So he came up with the idea of hiring two men who needed spare cash to bring him a tree while pretending to live at a farmhouse near the bunker. They never saw him go any further inside than the porch and the people who lived there were apparently on vacation and none the wiser. Pleased with himself, Castiel only had to carry his tree half a mile back to the bunker as opposed to hauling it all the way from town.

Decorating proved an entirely different problem. He caught a ride with Dean over three different days, saying he needed to buy new clothes while the hunter picked up groceries. When he caught up to Dean at the car, he had no idea Castiel's new clothes in the plastic Walmart bags concealed boxes of twinkle lights or ornaments. He had to buy a jacket just to hide the gold star for the top of the tree, having found angel tree toppers a little barbaric.

Christmas Eve arrived and it didn't even seem like either Winchester brother realized what day it was as they occupied the library looking for everything they could find on the Knights of Hell. It gave Castiel time to cook dinner and, while the turkey roasted in the oven, he carefully assembled the Christmas tree in the dining room.

Before he rushed off to drag Sam and Dean to dinner, he stepped back and examined his work. White lights twinkled all over the tree and shined off a myriad of gold ornaments. Nearly everything he chose had gold in it, though he decided not to explain that angels were attracted to that particular metal. He hadn't lost his attraction to it even though he lost his grace and immortality. But it wasn't about him that night. It was about thanking the Winchesters for being his family when his own fell apart, and giving them the sense of family they never had growing up. He carefully set the table, even with a tablecloth, and set out Dean's favorite luxury whiskey and Sam's favorite white wine. Every penny of the money Castiel saved from the Gas-n-Sip went to Christmas but it didn't matter. The reason why people worked was to take care of their families.

"Dean, Sam, I found something of interest pertaining to the Knights of Hell," Castiel lied, knowing if he merely announced dinner, the boys would lolligag around for another half hour.

The brothers knitted their brows in confusion but followed him like obedient puppies anyway. Castiel smirked to himself as he flung open the dining room door with a bit of flair and stepped aside for them to go on ahead. His hands knotted together, suddenly nervous and wondering if they'd even like it.

"Cas, what'd you do?" asked Sam, pushing ahead of his brother.

"What the hell...?" Dean murmured as his eyes scanned the entire room. "You did all this?"

"Yes, I did," admitted the former angel. He hesitantly stepped into the room with them. "It's Christmas Eve."

"I completely forgot," Sam replied. Bending over the table, he tilted back the wine bottle to read the label and smiled at it.

"Dean once told me you don't particularly enjoy holidays but I think that must be because you've never had a real one." He still didn't know if they approved. "I decided we should have a good Christmas together. We've earned it. Don't you think?"

"Cas, this is...." But Dean stopped short and poked his nose up like a dog catching a scent. He glanced toward the kitchen. "Is that turkey?"

And then it all made sense to Sam. "This is why you've been obsessed with cooking lately."

It didn't seem right to explain every detail. Somehow he thought a simple smile and a shrug would leave a little mystery in it for the Winchester brothers. Children like them had never been allowed to touch the mysteries of imagination because they crudely learned about monsters entirely too young. Yet Castiel watched Sam and Dean regress back to something of childhood as they peered into the oven and lifted the lids on all the side dishes already done. The cook in Dean couldn't help himself as he put on an oven mitt and basted the turkey for the last few minutes.

"Hey, we all drinking? Of course we are," Sam joked as he tugged the cork on the wine bottle and poured three glasses.

"I can't believe you did this, Cas. Friggin amazing. I mean, I'm actually stunned," said Dean as he came to the former angel's side. "We've never had this before. I can't remember ... No, not since before Sammy was born and I don't really remember much of that."

"Are you happy, Dean?" The question came out more direct than Castiel intended but he still hadn't mastered the art of human subtlety. Perhaps he never would.

Dean's eyes drifted to the Christmas tree with those cool twinkle lights and then to the table where Sammy gave everybody a spot of whiskey in glasses beside the wineglasses too. "Yeah...." he replied, a faint smile tugging the corner of his mouth. "Yeah, for once, I think I am happy."

"Good." Castiel smiled too, feeling a dip in his stomach when Dean looked him in the eye.

"Geez, Cas, you still shock the hell out of me," he laughed as he slung his arm around Castiel's shoulders and squeezed him close.

Christmas dinner turned out better than Castiel ever expected. He took to cooking quite well, realizing the precise instructions and measurements suited his personality. Dean was more of a freestyle cook and the same dinners always tasted different when he made them. Still, the Winchester brothers tucked into the turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce like they hadn't eaten in months. Castiel offered a few different desserts to satisfy his own sweet tooth. One was a traditional English Christmas pudding that neither brother had eaten before and the other was an apple and cranberry pie. The way Dean groaned over the pie sounded like sex, which made Castiel's face burn hot.

Stuffed full of rich food, warm, hazy, and yes, a little drunk, Sam and Dean shuffled off to bed that night with smiles on their faces. They had no idea Castiel wasn't even done yet, but seeing them happy made all of the planning and worry worth it for him.

"Hey, Cas," said Dean, running into each other near the bathroom between their bedrooms.

"I thought you went to bed," he replied.

"I'm going," the hunter said with a nod. "I just ... y'know ... Tonight was pretty awesome. Sammy never had a real Christmas dinner or anything. I could tell he was excited."

Castiel's mouth spread into a thin smile. "And you, Dean?"

"Me?"

"Did you enjoy it?"

"Oh, yeah, I did." Dean nodded but it seemed like an afterthought.

Castiel's face slightly tilted, questioning, curious. "Dean, you are allowed to enjoy yourself. It's not selfish. I didn't only do it for Sam. I did it for you - for all of us."

A quick, barely imperceptible nod followed but it required such a struggle for Dean to let the tension go in his body and simply feel the life around him. Castiel watched the struggle and remembered seeing it through the filters of angel eyes, thankful that he hadn't lost his whole ability to read Dean's moods. When Dean finally let go, he shoved himself forward and latched arms around Castiel's shoulders.

"Thanks, Cas," he mumbled into Castiel's neck, probably a little drunk.

Softly, the former angel smiled as he returned Dean's embrace. "You're welcome, Dean."

Feeling like Santa Claus in the darkest hours of the night, Castiel woke by his phone's alarm and crept through the bunker in the next phase of his plan. He dug out two stockings he'd stashed away just for that morning. One contained organic fruit candy and a watch, while the other contained peanut butter cups and a new silver flask. Barefoot and feeling his way through the dark, he displayed each red and white stocking on the boys' nightstands so they'd see them as soon as they woke.

Both of them tumbled downstairs in baggy pajama pants by morning and digging through their stockings as Castiel finished frying eggs. They smiled, really smiled, all morning and shared their sweets even though Dean made fun of Sam for liking "healthy" candy over the real tooth-rotting stuff.

By morning, Dean and Sam had gifts that weren't stolen or bought at the last second in the convenience store. In his quest to learn human customs, Castiel reminded the Winchester brothers of their own humanity as well.


End file.
